The Choices That Led Us Here
by Never Goodbye
Summary: It's been almost eight years since the Salvatores' blew into Elena's life and changed her life forever. Now as she settles down to start her family with her husband, Elena thinks back on the year that led her to where she is now. Family ties w/Ric&Jeremy.


Disclaimer" I don't own TVD or The CW. I do own a copy of season one on dvd and I'll get season two when it comes out, but that's as far as it goes.

A/N: So I started this like two or three weeks before the finale. And then the finale happened and kinda messed up the little bit I had cause I started it the week Damon was bit by Tyler and the outcome of my fic is what happens in the books when vamps are bitten by werewolves. Thank you to my bff Steph who has read the books and tells me what happens in them since I refuse to read them since L.J Smith was fired and it's been all but confirmed that Delena isn't happening in the books. This started out because John's letter to Elena just screamed out to me and the fact that she looked at Damon when it said "weather you're reading this as a human or a vampire I love you all the same." And yeah since I've been delena since the very first time I watched TVD, I was a little too happy about that and most likely read way too much into it but then seeing the finale and Kevin's interviews since then about delena season three maybe not. I started this because I wanted to do a human delena story that wasn't completely AU like the other three that I'm working on however it turned into more about the relationship about Elena and Jeremy. It might be the big sister in me but I completely love their relationship on the show. And I loved Jeremy's brother swagger when he told Bonnie to step off that he was going to save his sister. So yeah this is what came out of that. Hope you enjoy it please read and review.

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><p>"<em>Hey you can say it." The tall forever teen said looking down at her.<em>

"_Say what?" she asked scanning the horizon. This was one of the moments she would remember for the rest of her life. It could very well be her last day as a human. _

"_The thing you been wanting to say but you're afraid of how it'll make me feel." The boy told her honestly. _

"_There's nothing I can say Stefan. It's not going to change anything." She said finally tearing her eyes away from the sun set. _

"_It might make you feel better. Look I know this isn't the first time you thought about it. Drinking vampire blood to survive. I know I thought about it a hundred times." He said turning back to her after looking at just one of the many sun sets he has seen. _

"_Before all this with Klaus? Did you think about it then?" she asked when the curiosity got the best of her_

"_Of course I did. Look if it were my choice, I'd want to be with you forever." He said grabbing her hands and looking in her eyes. _

"_Why've you never brought it up?"_

"_Cause I knew if it was an opptition then you would've. It would be selfish of me to ask you." He said with a hurt shrug. _

_Elena looked down. Maybe she hadn't been as sly as she thought she had when it came to avoiding talking about their future._

"_It didn't stop Damon." She said looking back out the world in front of them. The hurt and anger of Damon's betray seeping into her voice. _

"_He shouldn't have done what he did. He did it because he loves you." Stefan said. He may have told Damon history would not repeat itself when it came to Elena. However he had known deep in his heart that Katarina had never loved Damon it had been a game to her when it came to his brother. However he could be honest with himself and with Damon. Damon did care about Elena, and loved her. But he had yet to come to terms and tell Elena herself. But she had to know in her heart that his older brother loved her._

"_But he did this to me Stefan. Which means he doesn't really know what love is. And to be honest I don't know if I do. I'm seventeen years old. How am I supposed to know any of this yet? I know I love you Stefan. I know that." She told him grabbing his hands again. "But my future, our lives together. Those were things I was suppose to deal with as they came along. I was supposed to grow up. Decided if I want to have kids and start a family. I was supposed to grow old. I was supposed to have a life time of those choices. And…and Now? It's all gone." She finished as tears streamed down her face. _

"_Hey say it. Please." He said wiping her tears away._

"_I don't wanna be a vampire Stefan. I never wanted to be one." She finally broke down and told him the secret she had been carrying around for months. _

"_I know. It's ok." He said pulling the crying girl into his arms._

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><p><em>It had been five days since his aunt and uncle's funeral. Five days since he and his sister buried the only family they had left. Elena had promised that they would always have each other and he knew they would, however Elena was currently upstairs tending to Damon as his vampire body shut down once and for all. The only thing that was keeping him from grabbing his sister and the two of them leaving Mystic falls forever and never looking back, was knowing that Bonnie had told the truth when she said Damon's bite wasn't so much fatal, like vampires thought. As long as they had Klaus's blood. Hearing the steps creek he turned around. "The first part is done. He's taken his last breath as a vampire." Elena said looking at him. She sent him a sad smile then went into the kitchen. Coming back she had a plate of pizza for herself and two twenty ounces of mountain dew for them. "Lucy and Bonnie said it could take a few hours or it could take days. Lucy only knows of a few times this has happened because normally it doesn't happen or the vampire offs themselves." She said sitting down next to him placing her head on his shoulder. <em>

"_How's Stefan handling it?" Jeremy asked bringing up the unmentionable name. After Elena came back to life as herself that fateful day with Uncle John, things changed between her and Stefan. Then when she found out that Tyler bit Damon, it took Jeremy, Stefan, and Ric to hold her back from running after Tyler and killing him with anything silver she could get her hands on. Once she calmed down she ran up the stairs to Damon's room and hadn't left his bed with her head resting on his chest unless she had too. And one of those times was when she confessed to Stefan that Damon had compled her the night they rescued her from Trevor and Rose. Only she wasn't stupid she had some of Jenna's vervain perfume and tea. If her necklace was gone then she was going to keep herself safe no matter what. She had known all along that Damon loved her, she just didn't know what to do. She also confessed that it almost took losing Damon for her to man up and act on the love she had for him. He was bitten trying to find away to keep her human for another month, buying them time to try to think of another way to deal with Klaus. She owed it to him to give him a fair shot at her heart too. She owed it to both of them._

"_He's handling it. I know he's hurt seeing me with Damon like this. But I owe it to Damon. To myself." She whispered. "Plus he's guzzling the human stuff. He has control over it but the way he's drinking it is not good. Ever since I broke up with him and Katharina showed up with Klaus's blood he's been different. Something happened in that apartment that neither him nor Katharina are coming clean about. I don't trust Katharina as far as I can throw the bitch. And Stefan is always texting someone, I'm not sure I trust him right now. I need to focus on you and Damon. Two of the three guys that matter most right now. Ric's a big boy he's gonna have to have his own back for a few days. My little brother was killed and brought back to life by his witch girlfriend and her great grandma."_

"_You don't have to explain yourself to me Lena. But I am a big boy. You don't have to keep me safe. I have my cool man ring." Jeremy said kissing the crown of her head. _

"_Yeah and that worked out so well when Sherriff Forbes put a bullet though your chest." Elena said. "You're my brother Jer, the only family I have left. I promised mom and dad and then Jenna that I would keep you safe. It's my fault you were dragged into the fucked up world of witches, vampires, and werewolves. It's my job to keep you safe. I swear to you I will die before anything happens to you ever again." She said looking in his eyes._

"_Well that 's gonna be hard seeing as I'll die before anything ever happens to you." Jeremy said kissing her forehead and hugging her back to him. "You know I was just thinking about my last conversation with Uncle John."_

"_Oh yeah? What was it about?" Elena asked setting her half eaten pizza on the table in front of them. _

"_I asked him if he read the whole spell and all of the journal about the spell he had Bonnie do to the two of you." The little brother told his big sister. "He told me he did. So I asked him if he understood what happened to the child's mother after the baby was brought back to life."_

"_What did he say?" Elena asked looking up at him from his chest where she was resting._

"_His words exactly; 'She saved her daughter. She found peace.' He just wanted to save you for once, instead of always letting you down." Jeremy told her with a soft smile. _

"_What happened after that?" Elena asked as she thought of her father's last day on earth. _

"_He told me to give you your letter and the ring." Jeremy said running his hands over his sisters hair. _

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><p><em>Elena walked into her brother's room at the end of the day. He has had a hell of a year. Two days after their aunt and uncle died his two ex dead vampire girlfriends came back into their house. But since he wasn't up to dealing with them since he himself just came back from the dead, he packed a bag and went to stay with Elena and Damon They had just moved back home with Ric after Damon finished his transformation back to human. Klaus's blood would have cured the bite but since Damon had drunk from the doppelganger while he was still a vampire her blood caused him to turn human. Elena had finally left Damon's bed long enough to shower and go meet with her guidance counselor at school. She had found out that she could take her first semester of English 12 and Economics over the summer and then in the fall she could take the second semester of English 12 and Government either at the school with her class or online in the fall and graduate when she was done. <em>

"_Hey Jer can I talk to you?" she asked leaning against the doorframe. _

"_Sure come in." he said scooting up against his head board. "How's Damon?" he asked when she sat down on the bed next to him. _

"_He's doing ok. Trying to get use to the fact that he's not invincible anymore. And trying to figure out why the hell Stefan took off with Klaus and where they could be going." Elena said leaning against his side._

"_He's not gonna do something stupid like go after them or something like that is he? I mean he could die now for real now and that'll be it." Jeremy said looking down at her. _

"_No he's not. He's just asking around with some of the contacts he still has. He says now that he finally got me, he's not leaving till I say or we leave together." She says with a small smile._

"_Good cause I won't heist to kick his ass if he hurts you. He can't do shit to me know." Jeremy said with a laugh and flexed the hand with his ring on it. _

"_I feel so loved right now." Elena giggled cuddling into her little brother's chest as he held her the same way he did after their parents, Grayson and Miranda, died._

"_Yeah yeah." He said kissing her hair. _

_Looking around his room Elena saw pictures of Jeremy's life. Some of him and Vicki, some of him and Anna, some of him and Bonnie but most of the pictures were of the family. Some of the two of them and their parents, some of them and Jenna, some of them with Jenna and Ric. Even a few tossed in with Jeremy with her friends, which have now become his friends. But the one that stuck out the most was the one on his nightstand next to a picture of her and Jenna at the lake house a few years ago. The picture that jumped out at her was one from Miss Mystic Falls, each of the contesenst had get a picture taken with their escorts and their family. So Elena stood in the middle of the grand staircase at the Lockwood mansion, Damon stood on the step above her but had his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her to his front like she belonged there, Jeremy was on the step below her and even though he was facing the same way she was he had his head turned to smile at his big sister. Behind him on the same step stood his Uncle John looking at his daughter with nothing but pride and love even though she was wrapped in the arms of a vampire. Finally on the same step as Damon stood his Aunt Jenna with nothing but a proud smile on her face as she looked at her glowing niece. _

"_Jeremy. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that you've lost so many people." She told him the same thing she told him almost three weeks ago._

"_We've been over this Lena." He said then kissed her head again. "I still have you." He said softly into her hair. _

"_Yeah, but in two weeks…" she trailed off._

"_It'll make a year that mom and dad has been dead. Damn, it's only been a year." He sighed._

"_It feels like a life time ago." Elena said._

"_Yeah." He said. The two sat in silence for a few minutes. "How'd you appointment after school go today?" he finally asked. _

"_It was good. I found out that if I take my first half of English 12 and econs online over the summer and then the second half of English 12 and government with on campus or online and graduate before my class." She told him._

"_You should do it. The faster you get those three classes out of the way the sooner you can get away for this place and all the ghost that haunt you here." _

"_I can't leave you Jer." _

"_I'm packing my bags and booking it the night I graduate." He told her while he moved them so they were sitting up and looking her in the eyes. "No one deserves to see the amount of death we have Elena. Or the amount of hurt we have to feel. The sooner you can get away the better. You are the greatest, kindest, most lovingness person I have ever known. You give and give and fight for what you believe in and in the end you are the one that always ends up hurt." he told her. "I wasn't the best brother in the world earlier this year and it kills me that it took what happened on founder's day for me to come around. But when it comes down to it like I told Bonnie the day the Sherriff shot me and locked you up in her office and Damon was going insane from the bite and trying to find you. She had to keep leaving me behind cause she did it before and Jenna still ended up dead. So I was going to find you. You're the only family I have left. I wasn't kidding Elena I will go to my grave keeping you safe and happy. I think you getting out of here as soon as you can will not only make you happy but keep you safe too. You deserve a start over on life Lena. Leavening this place will give you that. "Jeremy told her._

"_What about you and Damon and Cara and Bon…"_

"_Damon's gonna go everywhere with you. He's waited almost a hundred and fifty years for someone to love him back and he's finally got it and you picked him when it mattered most. And Caroline and Bonnie will get over it. If they are you're best friends like the three of you pounded into my head all my life then they will want you to be happy. They will get over it. And I'll be a year and a half behind you. Once you guys get settled I'll come visit. I gotta make sure Damon's treating you right."_

"_I love you Jer." She said kissing his forehead. _

"_I love you too. Go call Damon you two can start planning the perfect start over." Jeremy said kissing her cheek and then shooing her out of his room. She giggled leaving him alone in his room once again._

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><p>Elena Salvatore shot up in her bed. Gasping she looked around.<p>

"Babe?" he husband asked from his side of the bed slowly waking up. "Is something wrong? Is it the baby?" he asked sitting up next to her and rubbing her back.

"No everything's ok." She told him. "I was just dreaming." She said leaning into his chest. She placed her ear over his heartbeat, her lullaby for a little more than five years now, it soothed her the same exact way it did the first time she heard it for the first time that fateful May night back in 2011.

"Are you sure?" he asked kissing her shoulder.

"I'm sure Damon." She smiled as she started to drift back to sleep.

A week after that fateful night Elena was pacing the nursery Damon spent almost three months making sure it was perfect for when his princess when she graced the world with her presence. She was three days past her due date but she knew that her little girl was just waiting for her Uncle Jeremy to come back into town. Arroyo Grande, California was a nice suburb in California they was far enough away from the major cities that they could raise their family but close enough that they were within a few hours drives to enjoy all the major theme parks of LA. It was the perfect town for them to start their lives together. Ric left Mystic Falls when Jeremy did, however Jeremy decided to start his life over in Chicago, he would fly in and spend Elena's birthdays with her and they would spend the day their parents, Aunt Jenna, and Uncle John died together sharing stories, and he would also fly in and spend his school breaks and major holidays with them. Ric moved to Pismo Beach just a few towns over from Arroyo Grande so Damon and Elena weren't totally defenseless if the supernatural ever came after them again. Elena, Damon, and Ric still had a close friendship and made a point to have dinner together at least once a week. Elena ran her hands over the changing table, rocker, and finally the crib that would hold the little princess once she joined them. Her eyes wondered over the few pictures in the room there was the same picture form the Miss Mystic Falls pageant with Elena, Damon, Jeremy, Jenna and John. Then there was one of Elena and Damon on their wedding day. Caroline and Bonnie stood at her side with Ric and Jeremy on Damon's side making up the wedding party. The last picture was next to the crib and it was of Elena, Damon and Jeremy on Elena and Damon's last day in Mystic Falls. On the wall above the crib was the letter that John wrote to her the day he died. She kept it there to remind herself of what her family gave up to keep her safe and to remind her every day that she had to keep her own child safe. _"Elena, it's no easy task to be an ordinary parent to and extordinary child. I failed in that task. And because of my prejudges I failed you. I'm haunted with how things might have played out differently if I've been more willing to hear your side of things. For me it's the end. For you the chance to grow old and someday do better with your own child then I did with mine. It's for that child that I give you my ring. I don't ask for your forgiveness or for you to forget. I ask only that you believe this. Whether you are now reading this as a human or a vampire. I love all the same. As I've always loved you and always will. John"_ Elena read out loud as she rubbed her stomach when her daughter kicked. She loved her brother but he was stressing her out, he needed to get home. Ric said one wrong move and she could pop, Damon was in nesting mode making sure everything was perfect and trying to talk her into going to the hospital and just having Jeremy meet them there. But Elena was holding off, Gilbert's took their time.

"Anybody home?" A voice yelled from the main floor of the house as the door was pushed open.

"Jer! I'm in the nursery." Elena yelled out the nursery door.

The only sound that could be heard though out the house was Jeremy running up the stairs. It had been five long months since he seen his sister. "Lena!" he said into her hair the second he wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her head then pulled away from her. "You look like you're about to pop Sis." He said pushing her long brown hair out of her face.

"Miranda has been waiting for you to get here. She didn't want to show up till you were back in town." Elena said as Jeremy led her out of the nursery and down to the living room.

"Well I'm here little one. You can come meet me now." Jeremy said rubbing Elena's stomach.

"About damn time you got here. I was about to toss you sister over my shoulder and drag her to the hospital." Damon said walking out of his home office.

"Good to see you too dick." Jeremy laughed leaving his sister's side long enough to hug his brother in law. "Where's Ric, I thought he said he was staying with you all when Lena missed her due date?" Jeremy asked looking around for the man that had stuck by him and Elena like a father after they lost all of their family.

"He went to get dinner." Damon told them as the three walked into the living room. Elena sat down in the middle of the couch next to Damon and curled into his side.

"So have you all decided on her middle name yet?" Jeremy asked sitting in the chair across the room.

"Miranda Jenna Lexi Salvatore." Damon told the younger man.

"Lexi, as in Stefan's old friend?" Jeremy asked.

"She told me before she died that when love was real you couldn't walk away no matter what. It didn't really sink in till Damon and I was in Atlanta and her boyfriend was hurting him. I didn't know what it meant then, but I knew I couldn't walk away from Damon." Elena told her brother as her husband wrapped his arms around her.

Ten minutes later Ric came though the front door with two boxes of pizza and two litters for the little family of four. "Hey Jeremy." He said seeing him for the first time.

"Hey Ric." The twenty two year old said smiling at him. The family of four sat in the living room eating straight out of the pizza boxes like they use to. However instead of figuring out away to save Elena and the people of Mystic Falls, they spent their time listening to Jeremy tell them about Chicago and about Becca, the pretty blonde with vibrate green eyes that he had been 'hanging out with' for the year. After dinner the three men took the trash in to the kitchen and cleaned up the mess that the group had made.

Elena leaned back against the arm of the couch and slowly rubbed her stomach as she closed her eyes. Her stomach had started to hurt during dinner but she was pretty sure that it was just Braxton Hicks contractions though so she kept her mouth shut. Feeling something wet seeping from her jeans she looked down. "Uh Damon." Elena yelled for him.

"Yeah babe?" he asked sticking his head out of the kitchen.

"It's time." She said.

"It's time?" he asked.

"My water just broke, you child is coming. We can go to the hospital now." She said annoyed. She didn't not need him playing dumb right now.

"Holy shit." He said running from the kitchen and over to her. He helped her up as Jeremy and Ric ran into the room.

"Jer, up in our closet is my overnight bag can you please go grab it?" she asked as Damon and Ric helped her to her feet and towards the door.

"Yeah." The younger brother said then took off up the stairs taking them two at a time.

Thirty minutes later Elena was in the hospital bed with her husband behind her whispering encouragement to her and helped her, the best he could though the contraction. Jeremy Stood next to her with his hand wrapped around her's holding it close to his heart.

"You're doing great baby girl." Damon told her.

"Hey you guys." Dr. Campbell said walking into the room. "How we doing?" the women asked Elena.

"Fan-fucking-tastic." Elena said though gritted teeth. "I want this kid out of me." She whined turning her head into Damon's chest.

"Well if you would have listened to me and just had Jeremy meet us…"

"Shut up Damon!" she yelled cutting him off. Another contraction hit. "I swear to god I am never going to let you touch me ever again. You did this to me." She said glaring at him as she breathed her way through the pain.

"You weren't complaining when we…"

"Dude that's my sister." Jeremy visibly shuttered at the thought of where Damon was going with that sentence.

"SHUT UP! Both of you." Elena said glaring at both of them.

"ok Elena I'm just gonna check to see how far dilated you are. So…" the doctor trailed off.

"We're gonna just step outside Elena." Ric said patting Jeremy on the back then leaned down and kissed Elena's forehead.

"See you in a few Sis." Jeremy said kissing her hair.

The doctor quickly checked Elena and said that she was nine centimeters dilated, so she and Damon went to get changed into the scrubs while Elena was made more comfortable with the help of the nurses. Damon walked back into the room and was met with Elena's panicked face. "What's wrong?" he asked going over to her.

"I can't do this. I don't know how to be a mom. We're not ready." She cried.

"Listen to me." He said rubbing her cheeks. "You can do this. We can do this." He told her. "After everything we've been though to get here this is going to be a cakewalk."

"I don't know how to be a mom." She cried looking into his eyes. "Isobel wasn't around till it was too late, My mom was great but I didn't pay attention to how to be a mom, and Jenna, Jenna's whole world was turned upside down cause of Jer and me. I don't know how to be a mom Damon, what if I mess up." She cried harder.

"Hey you listen to me. You are going to be a great mother. Besides it's not like you're gonna be alone in this. I'm going to be right there with you and Miranda will love you for her entire life. We're gonna be great Elena. I promise you." He leaned in and kissed her softly as the doctor walked back in.

"Okay Elena I'm just going to check to see if you are at ten centimeters and hopefully the little girl will be here shortly. " the women smiled at the couple. "Yep you're fully dilated. On the next contraction I'm gonna need you to push ok." The doctor said looking up at the two people who were about to become parents. They nodded as Damon moved to Elena's side and grabbed her hand. "Push Elena." The doctor and Damon said once the contraction hit.

Four and a half hours later Miranda Jenna Lexi Salvatore came screaming into the world. Dr. Campbell placed her on Elena's chest for the first time and Elena fell in love with her little girl with her father's sky blue eyes.

"Hi baby girl." Elena whispered to her before Miranda was moved again. Damon left her side long enough to cut the umbilical cord and then the little tiny girl was taken to be cleaned up and wrapped up in pink before given back to her parents. Elena leant against Damon while the two of them held their little girl.

"Knock knock." Came Ric's voice. "Can we come in?" he asked leaning against the door frame.

"Of course."Damon said smiling at his best friend and brother in law.

"Ran, look baby girl it's your Uncle Jeremy." Elena said as Jeremy walked over to her. He quickly kissed her damped forehead then smiled down at the little girl.

"You are too precious little one." Jeremy said taking the tiny bundle from her parents and held her close to his heartbeat. "God you are the single most perfect thing to walk into my life in almost ten years Randa." He whispered to the little girl as he walked her around the room. He dropped soft kisses to her head.

Damon left Elena's side and crossed the room to Ric who was leaning against the windowsill. "Elena and I were talking a few months ago and we, I was wondering." Damon scuffed his feet and looked at the floor. "Stefan gave up his life to save me but in the process I lost my brother and although by that time it had been almost a hundred and fifty years since he had been my best friend, at one point in our lives he was. When I came to Mystic Falls it was all about freeing the bitch and making Stefan's life hell. Then I met that women right there." He said nodding towards Elena, who was sharing a private moment with her brother and daughter. "I fell ass over head for her and along the way this slayer wannabe came flying though town determined to end me for what I did to his life. I'm not sure how it happened but you became my best friend, hell my only friend. You were there for Elena and Jeremy when they had no one left. You became a brother to me." Damon said looking in the other man's eyes. "I was wondering if you would like to be Miranda's god father." Damon asked.

"I would love to. Thank you for asking." Ric said patting him on the back.

The two men smiled at each other then crossed the room to the brother and sister. Ric greeted Elena with a kiss to her check and then gathered Miranda in his arms.

"You sure are a lucky little girl Ran. Two amazing Uncles who are gonna spoil you rotten." Elena said smiling lazily as Damon climbed in bed next to her.

Eight years ago Elena and Jeremy Gilbert only believed in vampires and all the other things that go bump in the night as the horror stories their dad told them about. But living and seeing the things they did changed their entire worlds. Damon had told her that he wouldn't regret any choices in life that he ever made because they led them to her. Watching her brother, husband, and someone that was so much more than a friend, her father figure. She couldn't agree with him more. Every choice they ever made lead them to that exact moment in time.

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><p>*Fin*<p> 


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